Since 2021, Kazakhstan has launched the universal declaration of income as part of the implementation of the Plan of the Nation - 100 concrete steps in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Universal declaration will be carried out in 4 stages:

  1. the first stage was launched on 1 January 2021 with the declaration of income and property of an individual, which was provided by civil servants and persons equivalent to them and their spouses;
  2. the second stage was launched from January this year 2023, affecting employees of public institutions, quasi-public institutions and their spouses;

  3. in the third stage, from 2024, managers and founders of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs and their spouses will be subject to declaration;

  4. and the implementation of the universal declaration will be completed by the fourth stage, under which all other categories of citizens will be subject to declaration from 1 January 2025.

The declaration is made in two stages and annually. First, the taxpayer submits a one-off declaration of assets and liabilities (form 250)1, which includes the presence of:

  • movable and immovable property abroad;
  • money in bank accounts in foreign banks;
  • shares in the authorised capital of a foreign legal entity;
  • securities, derivative financial instruments, data on digital assets, including those outside the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Form 250 is filed at the place of residence (stay) and can be filed in either paper or electronic form. The deadline for paper filing is no later than 15 July and for electronic filing no later than 15 September of the year in which the obligation to file a return arose.

One year after the one-time filing of Form 250, a taxpayer may be required to file a declaration of income and property (form 270)2 in one of the following cases:

  • on receipt of income subject to self-assessment;
  • when making tax deductions,
  • when acquiring and/or selling and/or receiving free of charge property subject to state or other registration, as well as property for which rights and/or transactions are subject to state or other registration, including outside the Republic of Kazakhstan;
  • when applying for credit and refund of the excess amount of the IPN, including in the case of application of tax deduction, indicating the individual's consent to the submission by banking institutions of information on the individual's expenses for repayment of interest on housing mortgage loans received for purchase of housing in the Republic of Kazakhstan3;
  • If there are funds on bank accounts in foreign banks located outside the Republic of Kazakhstan in the amount which in aggregate exceeds one thousand times the amount of the MRP established by the Law on the Budget of the Republic of Kazakhstan and valid as of 31 December of the reporting tax period;
  • in the presence of the following property, which as of 31 December of the tax year under review is in the ownership of a single person:
    • immovable property that is subject to state or other registration (accounting), or rights and (or) transactions on which are subject to state or other registration (accounting) with the competent authority of a foreign state in accordance with the legislation of a foreign state;
    • securities whose issuers are registered outside the Republic of Kazakhstan;
    • shares in the authorised capital of a legal entity registered outside the Republic of Kazakhstan;
  • debts of other persons to a natural person (receivables) and (or) debts of a natural person to other persons (payables) in the presence of an agreement or other document that is the basis for the obligation or claim, notarised (certified), except for debts to banks and organisations conducting certain types of banking activities, established in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on banks and banking activities in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In addition, in Form 270 it will be necessary to provide information on the funds with which the above income and property were acquired. The deadline for filing the paper version is no later than 15 July and the deadline for filing the electronic version is no later than 15 September of the year following the reporting calendar year.

Late filing of Forms 250 and 270 for the first time will result in a formal warning4.

Repeated late submission of Forms 250 and 270 within one year of the above warning will result in an administrative fine of 15 MRP5.

Footnotes

1. Order of the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 21 June 2018 No. 617 "On Approval of the Form of the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities of an Individual and the Rules for its Compilation".

2. Order of the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 13 September 2021 № 927 "On approval of the form of the declaration of income and property of an individual and the rules for its preparation".

3. Comes into force from 1 January 2025.

4. Section 1 of Article 272 of the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Administrative Offences No. 235-V of 5 July 2014.

5. Section 2 of Article 272 of the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Administrative Offences No. 235-V of 5 July 2014.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.